Message from Christen Sohn: February 14, 2018

Message from Christen Sohn: February 14, 2018

Posted on 02/14/2018

Dear CSUS Parents and Caregivers,

We apologize for the lapse in Tuesday Take Home Communication, and appreciate your patience with us as we navigate this busy time of year. We hope you are keeping warm and keeping well, and have a good book set aside to read over February break!

As always, CSUS has lots to celebrate as well as lots to look forward to as we enter the second semester. Scholar-Led conferences were a huge success, as were our daytime and evening performances of “What’s Normal, Anyway?.” Thanks to all those that came to support our scholars!

We are incredibly proud to share that on February 10th our Head of School, Mr. Manuel J. Fernandez, received the 2018 Cambridge NAACP, Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Drum Major for Education award. His passion for social justice began as a child, when he often faced racism in school. His efforts to challenge the opportunity gap and build a team of culturally proficient educators is commendable to say the least. Mr. Fernandez practices and teaches the importance of inclusion and non-discrimination as it relates to race, gender, mental and physical disabilities and sexual orientation. As a well-invested leader he is always at the forefront of issues pertaining to diversity and equity. CSUS is proud of Mr. Fernandez and his many accomplishments. We look forward to his return from medical leave so that we can celebrate with him.

In the months of February and March, this year’s Diversity Dialogues Series continues with an invitation to Cambridge Street families and community members to join our Citizen Read Book Group. On a first come, first served basis, we will be providing free copies of Claudia Rankine's book to adult caregivers and CSUS alums who would like to join us. We also have the opportunity for a limited number of participants to attend a public dialogue with the author and a performance of The White Card at the Emerson Cutler Majestic Theater. Please note the following important dates and events

3/1/18 | 6PM: (CSUS) Diversity Dialogues: Citizen Read Part I, Citizen: An American Lyric, Facilitated Book Discussion led by CSUS CP facilitators. You do not need to have read the book to participate in this Diversity Dialogue conversation. The larger conversation topic will be on micro-aggressions.
3/4/18 | 5:30PM: Public Dialogue with Claudia Rankine (Emerson Cutler Majestic Theater)

In the coming weeks we are also sponsoring two special events for scholars and families. We will be hosting our 2nd Annual Cobras Go to College Night at CSUS on February 27th from 6-8pm. This will be an opportunity for scholars to talk to high school students and guidance counselors about their experiences, learn about college, and learn what it takes to be successful in college. The flyer is available on the CSUS website.

We are also excited to announce World Language Week, which begins Monday March 5th. We will celebrate with our World Language Night on March 8th. We are encouraging scholars to participate in the school-wide poster making contest, and hope you can join us for the evening event.

Finally, we have a School Site Council meeting scheduled for tomorrow, Wednesday February 14th from 6:30 - 8PM. We will be reviewing Computer Based MCAS testing. Join us as we take a look at the components of the Next-Gen MCAS ELA, Math and STE test which CSUS will be administering via Computer Based Testing, including test components, scoring information, and practice tests and tutorials.

Thank you for your continued support. We understand that you have choices and we appreciate you choosing CSUS!